MBIE revoke offer to meet

June 23, 2015 New Zealand Taxpayers' Union

The head of the government department that spent $140,474 on a TV screen, $67,339 on a sign and $5,480 on an arts consultant for its new Wellington offices, has retracted an offer made to the Taxpayers’ Union to meet about the Ministry’s spending.

After we expressed public concerns last week about the Ministry's spending, MBIE officials told us that the CEO, David Smol, would be willing to meet and discuss the wasteful spending within the Ministry. Now the media heat has died down, they refuse to talk.

We wanted to have a serious meeting away from the media to constructively engage on how the Ministry is spending taxpayers’ money. Instead of keeping their word, the Ministry is once again running from accountability.

Below is the video of Porky presenting a Taxpayers' Union Certificate of Achievement in Government Waste to the Ministry's Head of Communications. On the video he can clearly be heard saying that the CEO would meet with the Taxpayers' Union to discuss wasteful use of taxpayers’ money...

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The Taxpayers' Union is 100 per cent politically independent. We are not affiliated with any political party and will never become a political party. We work with all parties, MPs or candidates that share our objectives. We work with any and all political parties and other organisations to expose government waste and low-quality government spending. Individual members have their own political involvements, but as an organisation the Taxpayers’ Union is vigorously independent in promoting the interests of New Zealand taxpayers.